Verissimo

Recorded in many spellings including Vero, Veron, Verona, Veronese, Veronesi, Veronique, Veri, Verissmo, Verissimo and others, this is an Italian surname, one ultimately of Roman (Latin) origins. It is locational from the city of Verona, where the etymology is uncertain. We believe that derives from the pre 5th century word 'ver' meaning alder trees, although the word 'vera' means river, so this is another possible origin. Residential surnames were the first to be created, a local landowner would for convenience adopt the name of his manor as his surname. In the case of the female names which became surnames such as Vero, Veronica and Veronique, these were adopted by sons either because their mother was the land owner in her own right, or the father was deceased. The spelling as Veronique was also given a boost by St Veronique, who was supposed to have seen a vision of Christ's face at Calvaire in France. The surname was introduced into England, through Huguenot protestant refugees of the 18th century, and throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.